Preparing for 2021 CNY - Spring Couplets Writing

Writing spring couplets is one example of traditional Chinese New Year customs. There are a few tales regarding the origin of spring couplets. But one tale, in particular, is very interesting. Back in the old days, there was a scary monster called "Nian-Shou (年獸)", and it would hunt people down during Chinese New Year. People were very terrified, so they would leave their houses and hide in the mountains. People didn’t feel safe to stay home during the Chinese New Year until someone found out the weaknesses of Nian-Shou, which are loud noises and red items. People defeated Nian-Shou by setting off firecrackers and sticking red couplets on their doors. Ever since Nian-Shou was defeated, people kept the custom and started writing words for good fortune on the red spring couplets, hoping for a great new year. 

Although printing technology has advanced and people can now buy nicely printed spring couplets, there are still quite a few people who like to write their own spring couplets to keep the traditional Chinese New Year custom going. Therefore, to kick off 2021, GA team decided to hold a spring couplet writing activity for our employees. Be it writing or drawing, English or Chinese, everyone explored their creativity during the activity. Let’s start the year with auspicious red!

寫春聯是傳統的農曆新年習俗之一。關於春聯的起源有眾多說法，但其中一個故事特別有趣。在過去，有一個可怕的怪物叫「年獸」，它會在農曆新年期間追捕人們。人們非常害怕，因此他們會離開家裡並躲藏在山上。直到一天，有人發現了年獸的弱點，包括大聲喧鬧以及紅色的物品。人們通過放鞭炮及在門上貼紅對聯打敗了年獸。自從年獸被打敗之後，人們一直保持著這種習俗，並開始在紅色的春聯上寫吉祥話，希望新的一年有好運。

儘管印刷技術的進步讓人們現在可以買到印刷精美的春聯，仍然有很多人喜歡自己寫春聯以傳承這項農曆新年習俗。因此，為迎接2021農曆新年，GA團隊決定為員工舉辦春聯寫作活動。無論是寫作還是繪畫，無論是英文還是中文，每個人都在活動中探索了自己的創造力。讓我們在吉祥的紅色中開始新的一年吧！